


The groom and the artist

by Maxumsurprise



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Character Death, Don't play battlefield 1 all day like I did, Edd has an injury, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hella fluffy, Horses, I wrote this instead of updating my main fic, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kind of Depressing, M/M, Matt takes care of ponies, Matt the nurse, Medical stuff, My first time writing Edd and Matt so probably VERY ooc, Not a lot though, Not too graphic but just a heads up, Please read the tags they explain a lot, Trench Warfare, angsty as hell, early 1900s, they're in france, ww1 au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 12:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9896657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maxumsurprise/pseuds/Maxumsurprise
Summary: The battlefield is not an ideal place to meet your boyfriend.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so this is ww1 au with Edd and Matt and it's gay and fluffy and sad. It's not beta read so please excuse any errors in this.

The light from the lamp the ginger was holding illuminated the slightly opened door, which he pushed open with his free hand. Matt heard the quiet nickering of the wounded horses, a nice change from the symphony of the barrage outside. He walked to where a mare was tied up, munching on hay, and removed the bandage from her shoulder.  
Matt had worked as a groom before the great war, and taking care of the cavalry horses at an equine hospital wasn’t much different. He had always gotten along with the animals, and them with him. The familiarity of the barn always calmed him. Hay and horses smelled the same whether he was in England or France. The job, as much as he liked it, was a pain in the ass. He had to muck out stalls, groom, feed, water, and nurse all the horses. The work could only be done under the cover of darkness, since the Germans fired at anything they could see.  
Matt raised his lantern again to inspect the gunshot wound. He jumped when he heard the sound of footsteps on the floor.  
“Only me,” someone said in a familiar voice. The ginger sighed in relief.  
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?”  
“The nurses have better things to worry about than making sure I sleep.”  
“Edd, you won’t heal if you keep sneaking out!” Matt hissed, but the brunet just laughed.   
“I wanted to see you.” Edd walked over and put his hand on the horse’s flank. His other hand, bandaged, hung limply at his side.  
“I want to see you too, but this is ridiculous.” Matt couldn’t help but glance at the open door with apprehension. “Close that, would you?” He looked back down before grabbing a cloth and dipping it in a bucket of water, wringing it out and placing it over the wound.  
“No one’s coming,” Edd said in a hushed tone. “Everyone’s out, I think.”  
“By out, you mean the trenches?”  
“Yeah.” The two men stared at each other wordlessly for a moment. In the back of his mind, Matt wondered if his companion could see him blushing in the dim light. Edd’s eyes were deep and brown. It was easy to get lost in them.  
Edd kissed him. Matt put his arms around his waist, but the brunet broke the kiss and gently pushed him away. “Not here.”  
“But where?” whined Matt.  
“You’re working, right?” He stepped back. “Weren’t the bags of grain near the last stall?”   
“Yeah, grab two.” Matt continued nursing the wound while Edd fed the rest of the animals. The barn was mostly silent, save the noises from outside and the breathing of the horses.  
“Edd?”  
“Yeah?”  
“You think it’ll ever stop?” The tremor in Matt’s voice was noticeable.   
“What? The war?” Edd asked, his view blocked by a horse.  
“It scares me,” Matt admitted.  
“It can’t go on forever, the government will do something.”  
“They’ve done nothing, and to top it off, you’re hurt!” he snapped.  
“It’s just my hand, Matt,” Edd sighed. “It will heal.”  
“And when it does, they’ll send you back out again! And for what? To sit in the mud and shoot at germans and-”  
“Matt.” Edd stepped over to his lover. “You’re being hysterical.”  
The ginger said nothing, wordlessly throwing himself in the shorter man’s arms.  
“Shhh, don’t cry.” He rubbed Matt’s back. “You’re shaking.”   
“Don’t die on me,” Matt wailed. “Please, just…” He gripped Edd’s shirt tighter. “I want to marry you,” he said quietly.  
“Then...We’ll figure something out, I suppose. When this is over.”  
“We can’t because it’s illegal, and-”  
“Matt,” he said softly, running his hands through the ginger’s hair. “Listen to me. When the war ends, which it will, we can do it secretly. We’ll run away together.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. And we’ll get a farm, for your horses, and I’ll draw portraits for money. Maybe one day we’ll become so rich I can buy you a house by the sea, and I’ll teach you how to sail.” This seemed to calm the ginger down. His breathing became less ragged.  
“I want to go home,” he whispered into Edd’s neck.  
“You’re my home,” Edd blurted out, causing Matt to sob harder. “I never felt like I fit in anywhere before you but now... I’m calm. Happy. At least, happy I can be because of. You know.” He gestured to the war raging outside.  
Matt pulled away and wiped his eyes, sniffling. “I didn’t groom yet.” His voice shook.  
“I will. Go lay down.” Turning, the ginger walked to his bed, made of a mess of old horse blankets and a pillow.  
He felt exhausted from crying and lay down, turning to face the door. The moon was visible through a crack in it. He felt himself drifting into sleep.  
“Edd?” he murmured sleepily. “Come lay down with me.” A warm, solid, object was soon pressed against Matt’s back. The other man wrapped his arms around the taller one.  
“Go to sleep,” he said, sounding amused. The war, as much hell as it was, had given them each one good thing; each other.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm probably keeping this as a oneshot but I might write a sequel depending on if you guys liked it or not. If you did please consider reading my other garbage fanfiction I would cry tears of joy if you do.


End file.
